10 Eponymous Discoveries (and the People Who Made Them)

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT) is a hereditary neurological disorder that affects the motor and sensory nerves -- the function of the arms and legs. It affects an estimated 1 out of every 2,500 Americans, making it one of the more common inherited neurological disorders [source: NINDS].

CMT causes muscle weakness, muscle atrophy, balance problems, an awkward gait, difficulty running, numbness and foot deformities. Despite what its name might suggest, it's not something you'd call your dentist about. And what about that name? The disorder bears the name of the three physicians who first described it in 1886, Jean-Martin Charcot, Pierrre Marie and Howard Henry Tooth.

Sometimes It Pays to Be First Alphabetically

When it comes to publishing your scientific discoveries, sometimes it pays to be first alphabetically. Physicians Burrill Bernard Crohn, Leon Ginzburg, and Gordeon Oppenheimer together published a paper on their findings of a new type of intestinal inflammation, but it was Crohn who the condition was named after: Crohn's disease.